This invention relates in general to the field of dry solids reduction, and more specifically to a commercial machine for reducing solid materials.
Solids reduction is the process by which certain materials are ground, crushed or pulverized from a certain input size to a prescribed output size. Industry examples of such solids reduction include but are not limited to the following:
Various devices have been developed and utilized to reduce the size of solids such as those listed above. One such device is called a ball mill. A ball mill is a cylindrical or conical shell that rotates about a horizontal axis, and is partially filled with a grinding medium such as natural flint pebbles, ceramic pellets or metallic balls. The material to be ground is added so that it slightly more than fills the voids between the pellets. The shell is rotated at a speed which causes the pellets to cascade, thus reducing particle sizes by impact. While ball mills have been successfully used in a number of industries, the amount of material they are able to process is often less (per hour) than other devices that actively hammer, crush or otherwise pulverize solids. In addition, the electrical cost required to operate a ball mill, per ton of resultant processed solid, can be expensive and even cost prohibitive.
Another device that has been used to reduce solids is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,396 (Pierce), U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,977 (Hayles, Jr.), and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,281 (Hayles, Jr.). The device described in these patents was developed to receive material in a slurry condition such as drill cuttings from a well bore, where the slurry material passes through a pulverizer, or collider, (a series of rotating disks having thrust guides to contact the slurry) thereby reducing the size of the drill cuttings. However, when solid materials that are not in a slurry condition are passed through such a device, many problems exist. For example, since solid material is not xe2x80x9cfluidxe2x80x9d, there is a tendency for reduced material to collect in cavities within the device and not proceed to an outlet or drain. This increases wear to the thrust guides, raises operating temperatures, and creates a degenerative variation in the size of the resultant processed solid. In addition, the device is designed to receive slurry through a single input in the middle of the chamber. However, when solid material is presented in the center of the chamber, it is contacted by thrust guides on their downward stroke, and driven to the bottom of the device. This is problematic for the reason described above. In addition, it is also damaging to the thrust guides thereby creating increased wear.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that the above devices are not exhaustive, but are merely representative of the types of machines used to reduce solid material.
Therefore, what is needed is a device that can cost effectively reduce solids in a dry or suspended state to a predefined size.
Furthermore, what is needed is a device that can receive dry solids of various sizes and reduce them to a variety of different predefined resultant sizes.
And, what is needed is a durable device that can withstand the wear and abuse of processing solids that are in either a dry or fluid state.
The present invention provides a machine for processing of dry solids that is durable, cost effective, and configurable, for processing dry solids of various sizes into a range of predefined sizes.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a solids processor including an enclosed cylinder, a pair of rotor assemblies, motor means, and a pair of inlet ports. The enclosed cylinder encloses solid materials provided thereto. The pair of rotor assemblies spin disk sets to hammer the solid materials. The motor means are coupled to the pair of rotor assemblies and cause the rotor assemblies to spin. The pair of inlet ports are provided along the top of the cylinder, to receive the solid materials and to transmit the solid materials to the enclosed cylinder.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a solids processor having an enclosed cylinder, a pair of rotor assemblies, motor means, and a plurality of baffle plates. The enclosed cylinder encloses solid materials provided thereto. The pair of rotor assemblies spin disk sets to hammer the solid materials. The motor means are coupled to the pair of rotor assemblies to cause the rotor assemblies to spin. The plurality of baffle plates are secured within selected cavities within the enclosed cylinder to prevent build up of the solid materials within the cavities.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a processing device to reduce in size solid material. The processing device includes a base frame, a pulverizer and incline means. The pulverizer is coupled to the base frame, to receive the solid material, and to reducing the size of the solid material. The incline means are coupled to the base frame, to selectably adjust the height of a first end of the pulverizer relative to a second end of the pulverizer, thereby varying the amount of time the solid material is processed by the pulverizer.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a solids processor having two rotor assemblies which spin opposite to each other, the two rotor assemblies for reducing solid material to a predefined size. The solids processor includes for each of the two rotor assemblies, a plurality of disk sets, the plurality of disk sets each having a plurality of hammers for hammering the solid material; and a plurality of vains, secured to selected ones of the plurality of disk sets, the plurality of vains creating lift within said solids processor.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a solids processing device having motor means that spin a pair of rotor assemblies in opposite directions. The solids processing device includes: a pair of interconnected cylindrical chambers which are in fluid communication and in overlapping relating along their length, the pair of chambers having an inlet end and an outlet end, the rotor assemblies positioned within the pair of chambers for hammering solid material; and a plurality of flow restrictor plates, secured internally within the pair of chambers, and positioned around the rotor assemblies, the plurality of flow restrictor plates for restricting the flow of the solid material from the inlet end to the outlet end.